Firefighters find 2 dogs out in the cold in Beltsville | News

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BRANCHVILLE, Md. (WUSA9) -- Two dogs survived the cold thanks to firefighters who took them in for the night.

The mom and her pup are adjusting quite well at the Greenbelt Animal Shelter after being rescued from the cold.

Kitty Garner is a Lifelong volunteer and president of the ladies auxillary at the Branchville Fire Company.

Kitty and her son were driving down Rhode Island Avenue late Tuesday night when she spotted the two dogs pawing at the door to get into the Jiffy Lube for shelter. Thats when she scooped them up.

"My main concern was they were going to get hit plus the cold. The puppy whined all the way down the road and shivered all the way down the road he was so cold," Kitty Garner described.

Fire fighters at the Branchville Fire Station took them in and the dogs made themselves right at home.

Captain Spiro Dimakas spent the night with the dogs on the couch."The dog ate 5 chicken breasts and cleaned one of the guy's plate right off the countertops," Captain Dimakas said.

The dogs were evaluated at the animal shelter and seem to be in good health.

While they were found with no collar they believe someone owns them. They're potty trained, very sociable and even know a few tricks. The shelter believes mom is a pitbull mix and the puppy maybe part mastiff and could grow to be very large. Despite their size, neither dog is meant to be in such frigid temperatures for such an extended time.

"These guys are not built to be in cold climate. They have a short haired coat. She had pink ears and had been at the firehouse for some time so if they were out for a couple more hours they would not have survived," Lauren Crossed a Greenbelt Animal Control Officer explained.

Captain Dimakas told WUSA9 that he doesn't believe the puppy would have survived if Garner hadn't picked the dogs up.

"I'm glad I did it. I mean I felt bad for them. I wouldn't have been able to sleep last night no way," Garner said.

The shelter will hold the dogs for 5 days and if no owner comes forward then they'll be placed for adoption. At least two dozen calls have come in wanting to adopt them. Some callers indicated they would adopt both to keep them together.

Animal control officers and firefighters say there is one major takeaway: keep your pets inside during the cold weather.